Sales flow as grand final fever hits pubs across city

Josh ChiatKalgoorlie Miner

Monday, 1 October 2018 7:51AM

Camera IconEagles fans flocked to Judds to see their team shade Collingwood in the AFL Grand Final. Credit: Kelsey Reid / Kalgoorlie Miner

Kalgoorlie publicans toasted a revenue boost from footy fever this weekend, with punters making their way across town to see the West Coast Eagles’ nailbiting win over Collingwood in the AFL Grand Final.

Drinks flowed throughout the day as tourists and locals draped in their team’s colours hit bars along Hannan Street for the big game.

It was a one-sided affair at the Kalgoorlie Hotel where 95 per cent of the roughly 130-strong crowd were blue and yellow through and through.

Proprietor Craig Alderdice estimated business was up about 20 per cent on the day, with the close contest keeping Eagles fans hooked to the final siren.

Among the throng at Kalgoorlie Hotel were Perth tourists Lachie and Jeremy Flavel, 14 and nine years old respectively, who despite the Eagles’ remarkable success since joining the VFL/AFL competition in 1987 witnessed their first winning grand final as fans.

It is unlikely they will ever forget where they were on September 29, 2018.

“It was pretty awesome really, it was a pretty good vibe in the pub,” Lachie said. “I had faith, we played pretty well.”

At the York Hotel owner John Dickhart said he had a 60-40 split of Eagles to Magpies fans, with a big influx of tourists for school holidays bolstering the Victorian side’s numbers.

Despite being a bit quieter than previous grand finals, he said business was up 25 to 30 per cent on a normal Saturday with both alcohol and coffee sales flat out.

“I had quite a few messages on our social media pages asking us if we were putting the football on, so when they come through I knew we were going to be fairly busy, so a lot of people had lunch as well, which was great,” he said.